Woman gives from the heart to kids in China

SAN RAMON — Stephanie Hwang was recovering from knee surgery after a rock climbing accident when her father suggested she read the book that would change her life and set her on a course to change the lives of others.

“The House of Hope: God’s Love for the Abandoned Orphans of China” by Elisabeth Gifford tells the story of Robin and Joyce Hill, a western couple living in China who set up a foster home in November 2002 for unwanted babies as an expression of their Christian faith.

The couple’s New Hope Foundation now operates six facilities in Beijing and Henan province and cares for more than 300 children, all with special needs, awaiting adoption.

“There was something profound about people who were willing to give up their lives and social status to help other people,” Hwang said.

Hwang, 24, was so moved when she read the book in December 2012 that she emailed the Hills, asking how she could help.

“They told me they needed someone in the preschool, and that if I could make my own way to Beijing they would provide housing and my meals would be taken care of,” said Hwang, who grew up in San Jose and now lives in San Leandro. Hwang’s parents, however, needed convincing.

“They were not sure about me traveling so far away and going to a place where I did not know anyone,” said Hwang, who worked odd jobs to pay for the airline ticket.

Hwang spent five weeks teaching at the preschool in the summer of 2013.

“Stephanie was one of our little stars,” Robin Hill said by phone from China. “All of our volunteers are special. But Stephanie was always upbeat and positive, especially around the children.”

Hwang was keen to document her time in China, Hill said.

“She took lots and lots of photos,” he said. “She probably took a photo of every child.”

Hwang was so struck by her experience that she returned to the foundation in 2014, taking six months off her graduate studies in biological sciences and educational media design at UC Irvine. During the trip, Hwang accompanied a 15-month-old and a 2-year-old to Hong Kong, where she helped care for both as they underwent medical treatment.

“That was a very hard job,” Hill said. “It meant Stephanie was with the children 24 hours a day. She was also with them in a hospital, which can be difficult even in the best of circumstances.”

Among the kids at the preschool was Xiao Gang, whom Hwang did not expect to see again after she returned to the United States.

But before she departed, Hwang and other volunteers created a scrapbook for the boy, something that’s done for all the children. It included notes about their interactions — Xiao Gang was a “little tornado,” one volunteer wrote — and contact information so the boy or his adoptive parents could track them down someday.

And that’s exactly what happened with Xiao Gang, now age 4.

“I was like, ‘Wow, Stephanie lives very close to us,’ ” said Jessica Graham, who with her husband, Matthew, adopted Xiao Gang in October 2014. The couple looked up Hwang after they moved from Chino Hills in Southern California to San Ramon last summer.

The reunion took place at an ice cream shop in San Leandro.

“Our son was so happy to see Stephanie,” Graham said.

“I will forever appreciate what she did. She cared for him before I could. She stood in the gap when I couldn’t do it.”

Graham immediately noticed that Xiao Gang, who still faces health challenges, was loved before he was adopted.

“He was not afraid to be hugged,” Graham said. “He was playful and very affectionate.”

Hwang left her mark on the boy in other ways, too, Graham said.

“He knew the song, ‘The Wheels on the Bus,’ and he understood what a ‘timeout’ was,” Graham said. “It was amazing.”

Graham and her husband have also adopted a boy and girl, both age 6, from Thailand.

Hwang is now the family’s “de facto baby sitter,” Graham said.

Hwang was back in Beijing between Nov. 17 and Dec. 5, when she helped care for a 13-month-old girl as she underwent diagnostic treatments, including a cardiac catheterization to help prepare her for surgery to correct a heart defect.

Hwang does not know when she will next return to China. It hinges on getting time away from her job as an instructional technologist at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School.

Hwang said she was struck by the tough conditions at the New Hope Foundation, where many children have such severe medical conditions they are not expected to survive.

Electricity outages were common, she said.

“I was overwhelmed by the amount of the need and how no matter what I did, it never was enough,” Hwang said.

But what has also remained with her is that people came and offered help from all over the world, and that by working together, they could change children’s lives.

“I feel like my role is so small,” Hwang said. “It’s humbling.”

Contact Peter Hegarty at 510-748-1654 and follow him at Twitter.com/Peter_Hegarty.